Inspection
Books | Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
3.7
(100)
Josh Malerman
Boys are being trained at one school for geniuses, girls at another. Neither knows the other exists—until now. The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box invites you into a world of secrets and chills in a coming-of-age story like no other.NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD • “Josh Malerman is a master at unsettling you—and keeping you off-balance until the last page is turned.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbirds J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world. J is one of only twenty-six students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. J’s peers are the only family he has ever had. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science, and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know—and all they are allowed to know. But J suspects that there is something out there, beyond the pines, that the founder does not want him to see, and he’s beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them? Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. J has never seen a girl, and K has never seen a boy. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other.Praise for Inspection “Creepy. . . a novel whose premise is also claustrophobic and unsettling, but more ambitious than that of Bird Box . . . Inspection is rich with dread and builds to a dramatic climax.”—The Washington Post “This unlikely cross between 1984 and Lord of the Flies tantalizes.”—Kirkus Reviews “Malerman builds a striking world. . . . As he did in Bird Box, Malerman’s crafted an irresistible scenario that’s rich in possibility and thematic fruit. . . . Where [Bird Box] confined us behind a blindfold, Inspection rips it off.” —The A. V. Club “A must read . . . It’s a wonderful thing, digging into a new Josh Malerman novel—no idea what to expect, no clue where his twisted mind is going to take you.”—Cemetery Dance
Buy Now
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Josh Malerman
Pages
400
Publisher
Random House Worlds
Published Date
2019-03-19
ISBN
1524797006 9781524797003
Community ReviewsSee all
"After having more discussions with people after this book was released, I'm more frustrated by it than I already was, and I think my experience was closer to 2⭐ instead of 3⭐.<br/><br/>This is a difficult review to write since I have really mixed feelings on Inspection. I enjoyed some parts of it, and was quite annoyed by others.<br/><br/>Even if I don't always love the outcome, Josh Malerman always has creative concepts for his books. I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, and a fair amount of the story was mysterious and held my attention. <br/><br/>I have to be so vague about my thoughts on this book because I don't want to spoil anything. My biggest issue with this book is that it's already outdated, and it hasn't even been released yet. If you've read the synopsis, then you know that boys and girls are separated while they're growing up. There's more that I can't go into, but it's completely illogical to not even address the possibility of homosexuality in this setting. Kids (even outside of this setting, even without being taught what sex is) can figure out what feels good, and could probably figure out that it would feel good if someone else did it, too. They are so obsessed with keeping boys and girls apart, but there's never any mention of what would happen if they liked each other. It's weird to pretend like it's not an option, and it threw off my enjoyment of the book. It doesn't make sense to never mention it, and it's an out of touch thought process. Gender is show in these neat little boxes, and there's no other option except to be one of two things. I hoped there would be more to the book than what the synopsis described, but I was wrong.<br/><br/>Some parts of this book dragged and got repetitive, but I still liked reading it for the most part. I was very interested to find out what was going on, but I didn't feel like the pay-off was enough. It felt like it could have been very sinister in the beginning, and then never really went to the horrific level that it could have. It just sort of flatlined up until the end, and then I couldn't really buy into the ending. That's all I'm going to say about it. <br/><br/>Overall, it was an interesting story, but I just had too many issues to fully get into it. The synopsis in my ARC called this a "sinister and evocative gender equality anthem", but I'm not sure who and what era this is supposed to be an equality anthem for, because it doesn't really work for 2019."
"I read this book in a day, it's an insane ride and will have you feeling super disturbed at the end. I would try to elaborate but it'd spoil the best part"
G
Grace
Similar Books
4
4
4
3.6
3.8
4.4
3.9
4.2
4
3.5
3.8
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.7
4.2
3.6
4
3.1
3.6